Sochi 2014

From Russia with love

To mark Valentine’s Day, and to pay homage to the romance of the Winter Games, we decided to capture some tender moments shared by some of the athletes competing at Sochi 2014.

The victory kiss: The Hamelin- St-Gelais embrace is now becoming something of a Winter Olympic tradition. In 2010, Canada’s Marianne St-Gelais provided one of the most captured moments of the Games when, to celebrate the 500m short track victory of her team-mate – and boyfriend – Charles Hamelin, she raced down from the stand to give him a kiss. And it was déjà vu all over again in Sochi when Charles took the 1,500m title.

Marital bliss: German figure skating pair Maylin and Daniel, otherwise known as Mr and Mrs Wende since their marriage last summer, share a rare ‘husband-and-wife’ moment in between routines at Sochi.

Freestyle love: There’s no doubting where Sabrina Bizier’s loyalties lie at Sochi 2014, as she sports a Canadian-themed hat. And more specifically, they are focused on one Alexandre Bilodeau, her fiancé. And Sabrina was clearly the first person that the Canadian freestyler wanted to share the moment with after completing a dynamite run in the men’s moguls at Rosa Khutor.

Sealed with a kiss: When Dutch speed skater Stefan Groothuis captured gold in the 1000m, his wife Esther was on hand at the Adler Arena to witness his triumph, and he clocked a record time as he raced over to his wife for a celebratory embrace.

Couldn’t do it without you: Doyenne of the downhill, Slovenia’s Tina Maze, whose love affair with the snow was once again rewarded with a shared gold in the downhill in Sochi, celebrates her victory in the best way possible.

A fond French kiss: French figure skater Maé Bérénice Méité blows a kiss to an unknown admirer – or perhaps to the whole of France – as she signals her patriotic feelings via her decorated fingernails.